Laser 1, Drone 0 in Boeing Test

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Laser 1, Drone 0 in Boeing Test

Last month, a small robotic plane flew into the skies over New Mexico's White Sands Missile Range. Tracking the drone was an experimental Humvee, equipped with a laser. The real-life ray gun then took aim at the drone, and began blasting. Soon, the drone had a hole burnt through it – and was crashing down to the desert.

For decades, the Army and the Air Force have used laser prototypes to zap unmanned planes. But what makes this test, held last month, a little different is that the laser was small, and low-powered. Which makes the ray gun, at least in theory, fairly easy to fit into an existing combat vehicle. In the summer of 2007, this modified Humvee – a Boeing "Laser Avenger" – blasted five targets on the ground, including some unexploded ordnance.

Those initial trials raised some eyebrows, because the Laser Avenger used only one kilowatt laser; 100 kilowatts is generally considered the minimum for weapons-grade. Since then, the power has been "doubled," Boeing executive Lee Gutheinz says in a statement. And Boeing swears the weapon performs just fine, despite its relative weakness.

The laser-equipped Humvee is a modified version of the Army's Avenger air defense system. It uses more traditional means – eight missiles – to take out low-flying targets. So why use the ray gun? "Laser Avenger, unlike a conventional weapon, can fire its laser beam without creating missile exhaust or gun flashes that would reveal its position," Boeing's Gary Fitzmire contends. "As a result, Laser Avenger can neutralize these UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] threats while keeping our troops safe."

The military isn't sold on the idea, so far. Yeah, "representatives of the U.S. Army's Cruise Missile Defense Systems project office observed the tests," according to Boeing. But, for now, the company is funding the Avenger out of its own pocket, "to demonstrate that directed energy weapons are maturing and are relevant to today's battlefield."